Notebook: Pacquiao details advantages he has in mega fight with Spence
Collazo career finale; Top Rank's Aug. 14 undercard; more
Legendary eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao is 42 years old, in the twilight of his career and will be coming off a two-year layoff when he challenges unified welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr., a man 10 years younger than him and in his prime.
Despite that, Pacquiao, who is in the rare position of being the underdog, believes he owns some advantages against Spence, who he will meet in one of the year’s biggest fights on Aug. 21 in the main event of a Fox Sports pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I have lots of advantages in this fight. My speed and power, along with my strategy and experience, are all advantages for me,” Pacquiao said on Wednesday during his media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. “I never imagined being at this point now, when I started my career. Especially to be here now and still fighting the best. It’s truly a gift that I’ve received.”
Pacquiao has not fought since he looked terrific dropping and outpointing Keith Thurman, another much younger opponent, in July 2019 in Las Vegas to take his welterweight world title, which was later unceremoniously stripped from Pacquiao supposedly due to inactivity during a pandemic.
He said he is not concerned about performing at a top level coming off such a long layoff.
“It’s been two years since I’ve been in the ring and it was good for me to have that rest,” said Pacquiao, who fought twice in 2019, the other bout being a one-sided decision over Adrien Broner in January. “It helped my body and my mind a lot. This time around, I’m as excited as ever and feeling like I’m young again.”
Several potential opponents were mentioned as possibilities for Pacquiao upon his return, including MMA star Conor McGregor, welterweight titlist Terence Crawford, four-division titlist Mikey Garcia and lightweight star Ryan Garcia.
Instead, Pacquiao ultimately elected to fight Spence, the most difficult of any of them other than perhaps Crawford.
“I could have fought several easy opponents. I picked the best opponent because I want to add more to my legacy and accomplishments,” Pacquiao said. “I have to prove that I’m not done yet. We have a strategy that we know how to use against a southpaw. He wants to fight toe-to-toe and that’s going to be to my advantage. We’re prepared for anything. If he wants to use his reach advantage instead, we are ready.”
Longtime trainer Freddie Roach said he endorsed Pacquiao’s selection of Spence as his opponent.
“We took this fight because we think that Errol Spence Jr. is one of the best fighters out there. I’ve talked with Manny throughout the years and he’s always said that he wants to be the best at what he does,” Roach said. “There’s no sense in getting in there with some popular fighter who’s no good. We want to fight the best. I congratulated Manny when he chose to fight Errol.”
The fight could certainly be the last of Pacquiao’s career, win or lose. But he has not decided what he will do after this fight.
“This could be my last fight, or there could be more,” he said. “Like I’ve always said, it’s one at a time. After the fight, I’ll talk about the plan and see if there’s another fight coming. I’m happy to have been doing this for so long with the same coaching staff. I know that they’re happy with my preparations for this fight. The fire in training is still there. It’s the same as it’s been these last 15 years.
“I know my career will not last forever, that’s why I’m starting to help the young fighters in this sport who want to follow in my footsteps. It’s very important to me at this point in my career.”
Collazo aims for finale upset
For 21 years, former welterweight world titlist Luis Collazo has been in one tough fight after another. He’s one some and lost some and spilled a lot of blood along the way but he has always given the best effort possible, which is all anyone can ask from a boxer.
Collazo is now 40, has had arm injuries and is coming off a one-sided 10-round technical decision loss to Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in October 2019 in which he took a lot of punishment and looked every bit his age.
But Collazo is going to battle one more time, claiming that win or lose he is retiring following his fight with blue chip prospect Eimantas Stanionis in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions welterweight tripleheader on Saturday (Fox and Fox Deportes, 8 p.m. ET) at The Armory in Minneapolis.
“I can’t wait for Saturday night. It’s been a long road and I’m just eager to step back in the ring and do what I do best on fight night,” Collazo said on Thursday. “This is going to be my last fight on Saturday night. The sport is overwhelming in many ways and sometimes it’s hard to enjoy it. Even saying that, I’m bringing everything I’ve got on Saturday. I’m going to leave my mark once again.”
Collazo (39-8, 20 KOs), of Brooklyn, New York, turned pro in May 2000 and five years later he went on the road and challenged Jose Antonio Rivera for his welterweight world title in Rivera’s hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts and came away with a split decision win.
Collazo made one successful defense, stopping Miguel Angel Gonzalez in the seventh round later in 2005. Then he got the biggest fight of his career when he defended against British legend Ricky Hatton, who traveled to Boston for the first fight of a multi-million dollar HBO contract.
Collazo looked like the winner to many at ringside but Hatton, the junior welterweight champion, who moved up in weight for the bout, got the close unanimous decision to claim a world title in his second weight class.
Collazo would go on to face several more name opponents, losing to Shane Mosley, Andre Berto (in a controversial decision loss in a slugfest), Amir Khan and Keith Thurman and scoring a second-round knockout of Victor Ortiz.
Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs), 26, a 2016 Lithuanian Olympian fighting out of Oxnard, California, is obviously the favorite, but Collazo is the most notable opponent of his young career.
“Right now the only thing he has on me is age,” Collazo said. “Age doesn’t matter though, when you fight and stay in the gym like I do. That’s what I do for a living. I’ve been consistent and there’s no excuses coming into this fight.”
Like Collazo, Stanionis expects an action fight and if he wins hopes it will lead to a title shot.
“Collazo has faced the top guys and he likes to fight fire with fire like I do,” Stanionis said. “I am prepared for an action-packed fight. I got confidence from my last fight (in April) knowing that I can go 12 hard rounds. I got tested in that fight against Thomas Dulorme, but I think it was my worst night. I was not at my best. This time I’m 100 percent prepared and ready to go.
“I just have to win and keep winning. I want to get to the world title shot. Lithuania has never had a pro world champion and I want to make history. I have great competition on Saturday and I want to show that I can compete with any of the top guys.”
In the co-feature, two-time Venezuelan Olympian Gabriel Maestre (3-0, 3 KOs), 34, will face short-notice opponent Mykal Fox (22-2, 5 KOs), 25, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, for the WBA’s vacant interim welterweight belt. Fox was pressed into service when Cody Crowley (19-0, 9 KOs), Maestre’s original opponent, fell out after coming down with Covid-19.
In the 10-round opener, former welterweight and junior welterweight titlist Devon Alexander (27-6-1, 14 KOs), 34, of St. Louis, will return to the ring for the first time in 26 months and try to end a two-fight skid when he faces Lucas Santamaria (11-2-1, 7 KOs), 23, of Garden Grove, California.
TR undercard updates
Top Rank has added additional undercard bouts to the ESPN+ portion of its ESPN card headlined by the third fight between secondary junior bantamweight titlist Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney on Aug. 14 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Junior lightweight Genesis Servania (34-2, 16 KOs), a former featherweight title challenger, returns from a 20-month layoff to face Andres Cortes (14-0, 7 KOs), of Las Vegas, in an eight-rounder. Servania (34-2, 16 KOs) lost a decision in an action-packed battle with then-featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez in a 2017 fight of the year contender.
Also, junior lightweight contender Albert Bell (18-0, 5 KOs), of Toledo, Ohio, will meet Julio Cortez (15-2, 11 KOs), of Ecuador, in an eight-rounder. Featherweight up-and-comer Abraham Nova (19-0, 14 KOs), a Puerto Rico native fighting out of Albany, New York, who has been idle since June 2020, returns from an injury to fight an opponent to be named in an eight-rounder.
Also, two other fighters previously announced for the card now have opponents:
Las Vegas middleweight Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, who is making his pro debut in a four-rounder on the main card, will face Lexington, South Carolina’s Jordan Weeks (4-1, 2 KOs).
Junior lightweight Karlos Balderas (9-1, 8 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympian from Santa Maria, California, who is making his Top Rank debut in a six-rounder, will face Fidel Cervantes (9-1-1, 4 KOs), a native of Kansas whose only loss came by majority decision.
The ESPN+ portion of the card will stream beginning at 6 p.m. ET followed by the main card on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET.
Boxing and baseball
Promoter Lou DiBella, who owns two minor league baseball teams, will turn The Diamond, the home stadium of his Richmond Flying Squirrels, which is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in Richmond, Virginia, into a boxing venue.
DiBella announced that the ballpark will host a “Broadway Boxing” card titled “Take Me Out to the Brawl Game” on Aug. 26 (FITE, 8 p.m. ET).
The top three bouts on the card are heavyweight fights. In the 10-round main event, up-and-comer Stephan Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs), 28, of St. Louis, will face Robert Simms (11-3, 3 KOs), of Saginaw, Michigan.
Also, Jerry Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs), 33, of Newport News, Virginia, will face Joe Jones (12-4, 9 KOs), 26, of Jersey City, New Jersey, in a 10-rounder, and Mike Balogun (17-0, 13 KOs), 37, a former NFL player from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, will face Nick Davis (6-2, 4 KOs), of Atlanta, in an eight-rounder.
In addition to eight pro fights there will also be three amateur bouts highlighting members of the cadet boxing team from the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, as well as a performance by hip hop legends the Furious 5 featuring Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio.
Quick hits
Weights from Brentwood, England, for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN: Kid Galahad 125¾, Jazza Dickens 125¼ (for vacant IBF featherweight title); Fabio Wardley 235½, Nick Webb 256; Alen Babic 210, Mark Bennett 272½; Ebanie Bridges 118¾, Bec Connolly 119; Johnny Fisher 239¼, Danny Whitaker 259½; Aqib Fiaz 131¾, Kevin Baldospino 131¼.
Floyd Mayweather’s foundation and some of the Mayweather Promotions’ fighters will take part in their annual “Back-2-School” giveaway in Las Vegas on Aug. 13 at Mayweather’s Skate Rock City roller skating rink. They plan to assist more than 1,000 students K-12 in the Las Vegas community get ready for a return to in-person learning. Each student will receive a backpack filled with grade-appropriate school supplies and a book. There will also be roller skating, a DJ, arts and crafts activities and chances to win prizes, including laptops and printers for students in grades 5-12. The Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation has been putting on the event since 2013.
Show and tell
The late Pernell Whitaker, one of the greatest fighters of all time and a four-division world champion, was never known for his punching power. He was known for his legendary defense, speed and skills. So, when he put his WBC/IBF lightweight title on the line against WBA titlist Juan Nazario in their meeting for the undisputed championship, the smart bet was Whitaker by decision. But a funny thing happened on the way to that expected result. Whitaker stunningly knocked out Nazario with a left hand to the chin in the first round to become undisputed champ. The loaded HBO card also included junior welterweight Hector Camacho scoring a one-sided 12-round decision over Tony Baltazar and Meldrick Taylor, five months after his shocking stoppage loss to Julio Cesar Chavez with two seconds left in their epic junior welterweight unification fight, returning for a 10-round decision win over Primo Ramos. The tripleheader was 31 years ago this coming Wednesday — Aug. 11, 1990. Here is a gorgeous and very scarce thin cardboard site poster from the show in my collection.
Pacquiao photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Stanionis-Collazo photo: Sean Michael Ham/PBC